A Colorado couple said they sold everything they owned to buy a sailboat and set out for the open seas together.

Within two days, their dream became a nautical nightmare.

On their way to Key West, Tanner Broadwell and Nikki Walsh's voyage abruptly ended in John’s Pass off Madeira Beach, Fla., when their 28-foot sailboat struck something underwater Wednesday night.

"We hit something in about 8 or 9 feet of water and it stopped the boat completely," Broadwell told TV station WFTS.

Water flooded into the cabin, starting to sink their fantasy life. The couple grabbed social security cards, cash, IDs and their pug Remy as they called for rescue.

A ship arrived about an hour later, the Tampa Bay Times reported, but the water was too shallow for it to approach.

So the couple and Remy jumped in, leaving their dream vessel behind to capsize.

"Everything I've worked for, everything I've owned since I was a child, I brought with me. It's just floating away and there's nothing I can do," Walsh told WFTS.

Broadwell and Walsh left Colorado last year after selling off all their belongings, including a car, to buy Lagniappe for $5,000. It took a year and another $5,000 to get the boat ready to sail, Tampa Bay Times reported.

Now, it could cost thousands to remove Lagniappe from the channel.

Even with no savings and no place to live, the couple said they're not giving up on sailing again one day.

Deadlier than the plague, identify, highlight, and stay clear of dashed outlines with descriptions like "Spoil Area", "Fish Haven", "Fish Traps", or "Dumping Ground". Ever wonder where all those old cars and trucks, building material, or garbage goes? Now you know! Spoil areas never show soundings because depths change all the time. https://www.skippertips.co m/public/831.cfm

"They had no sailing experience. His father helped them sail along the Gulf Coast, from Alabama to Panama City. Thats how the couple learned how to sail.

They reached Tarpon Springs in May. They docked at Mar Marina, where Broadwell got a job. They worked on the hull, rewired the boat and got it ready for their journey.

"We met a bunch of good people," he said. "Everybody gave us a nice farewell off the docks."

They set sail Tuesday, anchoring off Anclote Key. The next day they passed by Clearwater Beach and made their way to Johns Pass to dock for the night.

Then it all went wrong.

  

It was about 8:45 p.m. when they sailed into a new port, navigating a channel they had never sailed before, in the dark, fog rolling in.

Broadwell steered while Walsh stood at the bow, lighting their path with a spotlight, trying to figure out the navigational buoys. But the red and green buoys seemed out of place, they said, and the shoal wasnt where their 2016-17 navigational charts said it should be. Had Hurricane Irma altered the channel?

Then it happened: The Lagniappe struck something underwater. Walsh almost flew off the deck." http://www.tampabay.com/news/Sunken-dreams- Everything-they-own-is-at-the- bottom-of-John-s- Pass_165308644http://www.tampabay.com/news/Sunken-dreams- Everything-they- own-is-at-the-bottom-of-John-s-Pass_165308644

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New to sailing. Trying to run that tricky channel in the fog. At night. Going too fast.

Oops.

That other article made it sound so dramatic like they were out to sea and a ship came to rescue them.

They were in sight of the shoreline when they ran into a sand bar. Why didn't they call the Coast Guard? Have a little Colorado herbage on board perhaps? And no life boat or even a dingy?

It must have made sense to them at the time. Before they learned their Expensive Nautical Lesson.

They keep mentioning some journey to somewhere but never identify their destination. It seems they sold a used car, bought a $5,000 28' sailboat (surely a rundown unit with problems at that price) and spent another $5K on it. I keep trying to imagine how this was supposed to work out well. Maybe they were hoping to start some charter gig by sailing tourists around down in the Caribbean or something.

Apparently this is a price point for late Seventies and early Eighties coastal cruising sailboats, according to this 3yo Reddit thread. (I have no idea how accurate this is.)

The boat on the left is in the correct position in the channel relative to buoy "5". Per the chart, the capsized sail boat is in 3ft of water. That's about a foot and a half less than the 4.5 or so foot draft of the sailboat.

Ooops!

Buoy "5" is probably what Mrs. Gilligan was looking for with the spot light.

Bad judgement to go poking around in the dark/fog with all those shoals clearly on the chart. Shouldn't have proceeded with out a clear visual on the guide buoys.

That link you posted is even better with detailed data about how STUPID these people were than at the top of the thread. It suggests all kinds of cool ideas:

A couples plan for a better life has been sunk.

Nikki Walsh, 24, and boyfriend Tanner Broadwell, 26, decided nearly a year ago that they were tired of working.

How can we live our lives when were working most of the day and you have to pay so much just to live? Walsh, who booked timeshare tours for a living, said to the New York Post.

Most of the work you do goes to your home. There has to be another option, she added.

So, the Colorado couple sold all their furniture and their SUV and purchased a 49-year-old boat in Alabama to live on and eventually sail the world in.

However, the two were not prepared for what happened next. Nearly two days into their venture, the couples boat capsized in a channel of water called Johns Pass.

We thought the channel was where we were going, but it wasnt, Walsh told the New York Post, telling the publication they were armed with GPS and paper navigation charts.

Local boat captains say the sandbars often shift in Johns Pass, the Post reported.

We started freaking out because waves were coming, and it was tossing our boat back and forth, Walsh recalled.

Broadwell was at the rear of the boat, holding onto Remy when the trouble hit. My hands were shaking. We were terrified, she said. Before abandoning ship, Walsh said they grabbed some clothes and important documents, as well as things for their dog.

I also grabbed Remys food and just about everything he needed, said Walsh. He doesnt deserve to go without his favorite toys.

Walsh admitted she and her boyfriend, who used to drive for Uber, were new to sailing.

However, the couple, who has been left with just $90 in cash, no jobs and no boat insurance, say they are still hopeful for their world-sailing plans and have started a GoFundMe begging people to help them not give up on [their] dreams.

The pair are seeking $10,000 to rescue the ship, which sunk off the coast of Madeira Beach, FL. Walsh said raising the boat alone will cost at least $6,700. We have a lot of family helping us, but its hard when youve lost everything, Walsh told The Post from Jacksonville, where the couple is staying with loved ones.

Though the pair seem down and out, they still plan to buy or salvage another boat at some point and try try try again, Walsh writes on the GoFundMe. You only have one life. Why spend it doing what you dont love. Money isnt everything! Walsh told the Post.